The Robin Hood Foundation Hosted a Heartbreaking, Heartwarming Fundraiser
Photo courtesy of Robin Hood
Last year, when Robin Hood, the anti-poverty organization in New York City, hosted its annual fundraising event, Shawn Mendes sang along to a coordinated light show that emanated from the top of the Empire State Building, and there was a surprise performance by Pharrell. Four thousand people attended the gala on May 14, 2019, which was hosted at the Javits Center.
Looking back would be a reminder—that no one really needs—of how much has changed in just one year. Today, the Javits Center has been repurposed as a makeshift field hospital to relieve medical centers reaching capacity amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and last night’s Robin Hood fundraiser was hosted virtually.
For an organization that combats poverty by assisting New Yorkers in need of food, shelter, health and mental health assistance, legal services, education, and more, Robin Hood’s aid has perhaps never been more in demand. With the latest national unemployment figures reaching a staggering 14.7% and schools, the main source of breakfast and lunch for many New York children, closed for half a semester, homeless and underprivileged New Yorkers are being hit hard by this pandemic.
For all these reasons and more, Robin Hood assembled an impressive roster of guests to partake in an hour-long fundraising special, Rise Up New York!, that aired last night on several networks and streaming services.
It included performances by Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Sting, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, and Staten Island’s P.S. 22 School District, which was introduced by Jennifer Lopez and several others. There were also words of kindness delivered by Awkwafina, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jessica Chastain, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, Robert De Niro, Spike Lee, Trevor Noah, Bette Midler, former mayor Michael Bloomberg, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and many more. Most joined in from their respective homes, and presiding over it all was Tina Fey, who joined from a studio inside an empty 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
The program was at once heartbreaking and heartwarming. De Niro opened the special, citing the resilience of his beloved city: “Our city is under attack.... You can take your best shot, but you cannot break our spirit.”
Following that were touching stories from individuals dedicated to fighting poverty. We heard from Reverend Dr. Terry Troia, who operates a food bank and homeless shelter on Staten Island. She’s grieving the loss of one of her employees, but continues to work seven days a week knowing that one-third of all food pantries across the city’s five boroughs are currently closed.
Throughout the hour, text scrolled along the bottom of the screen like a news ticker, offering sobering statistics on homeless and hunger rates in the city. Appearing every so often was Fey, delivering hard-to-hear realities and announcing the total money raised so far. First, it was $27 million, then it bumped up to $63 million. Her goal, as she urged on the audience, was to reach $100 million.
There were, of course, moments of comic relief which came courtesy of Fey and Jimmy Fallon, who did an earnest version of his popular Tonight Show “Thank You Notes” bit, thanking the Brooklyn Bridge, for example, for allowing Brooklyn and Manhattan to socially distance. And that was followed up with Fey remarking that Fallon’s overgrown quarantine hairdo was not the worst hairstyle she had seen on him.
The hour closed with Fey tearing up beneath her glasses as she announced the total money raised during Rise Up New York! was $115 million—with donations still coming in.
To wrap it all up was Governor Andrew Cuomo, who said: “We don’t just build back, we build back better than before because New York has a spirit and an energy you can’t find anywhere else. New York brings diversity, acceptance, unity, community, and talent altogether. And New York knows that the strongest four-letter word is still love and that combination is unique—it is the Empire state of mind and it lights the world.”
Lastly, Cuomo introduced the final performance of the night, a song from Billy Joel, whom Cuomo called “my man, an international talent but a New Yorker born and bred, my friend, my brother, father to my godchildren, Della and Remy, the ‘Piano Man’ himself.”
The program then cut to an almost-empty Times Square, where 13 digital billboards featured Joel at his piano singing “Miami 2017.” The song was originally written about New York City’s near financial collapse in 1975, but hearing the opening line, “Seen the lights go out Broadway,” fill the dark Theater District streets was downright uncanny.
Photo courtesy of Robin Hood1/18Tina Fey
Photo courtesy of Robin Hood2/18Robert De Niro
